Viewability of Directly Placed Display Ads Improves in H1

61% of directly placed ads stayed in-view for at least 1 second during the fist half (H1) of 2013, up from 56% in the second half of 2012 and 49.9% in H1 2012, according to [pdf] a new study from Integral Ad Science. Viewability for directly placed ads was better than for networks (43%, slightly up from 42.2%), exchanges (40%, up from 37.6%), and hybrids (40%, down from 41.1%). Longer engagement with viewers was much harder to come by: just 31% of directly placed ads remained in-view for 15 seconds, although that was a significant rise from 22.7% in the previous 6-month period.

Details from Integral’s “Semiannual Review” indicate that viewability continues to be better for vertically oriented (160Ã—600 ”“ Skyscraper) ads, with an average of 67% in-view for at least 1 second.

Suspicious Activity Lowest for Directly-Placed Ads

Directly placed ads not only had the highest engagement, they also were deemed to be lowest risk. While more than 1 in 5 impressions overall were suspicious of being fraudulent activity, only 2% of those placed directly exhibited suspicious activity. By contrast, exchanges were far riskier, with 20% of impressions deemed questionable (though that was down from upwards of 30% in H2 2012).

While the Integral study suggest some improvements in fraudulent activity, a recent report from Solve Media indicated that levels of suspicious activity continue to rise. Solve Media also pointed to rising fraud within the video ad space: in its study, Integral reveals that 3% of impressions on pre-roll ads were suspicious, with suspicious activity more concentrated on in-banner video ads. In fact, 40% of impressions through exchanges on in-banner video ads were estimated to be suspicious, according to the report.

Other Findings:

Food sites boasted the highest level of engagement, with an average in-view time of more than 2.1 seconds. Education sites fared worst on this level, with an average in-view time of about 1 second.

Ads on shopping sites were again deemed the least risky in terms of suspicious activity, while family and health sites had the highest rates of suspicious activity.

The overall proportion of high-risk inventory (impressions that represent a low degree of brand safety) stood at roughly 6% in Q2, and was relatively consistent across channels.